FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Sebastian & Co.

I take a road trip one afternoon. Three bridges later I cruise along Marine Drive in West Vancouver, through Ambleside, finally arriving at the Dundarave strip of shops. I look for the sign—and there it is, black and white: Sebastian & Co.

I’d heard about this young butcher, Sebastian Cortez, and wanted the experience of tasting what he does. He does organic as much as possible, but that’s only part of his approach. He brings in wholes sides of beef, an entire pig, or lamb, and uses every part of the animal—from steaks to bresola and corned beef; from ham to proscuitto and bacon with crackling.

Born in Chile, Sebastian, 34, had always been involved in meats and the popular Chilean barbecues. When he arrived in Toronto in 1999 with limited English, he worked in a kitchen doing minor duties until a chef told him, “Go to college.”

After graduating from George Brown College, he worked at Jamie Kennedy’s in Toronto but realized he didn’t want the lifestyle of a chef: he’d have to love the career more than life. What to do? When his best friend invited him to their farm, Sebastian went, and that’s where everything came together.

As he helped with butchering on the farm, Sebastian saw the animal as a whole. As a chef, he had worked with the tenderloins, but never thought about where they came from or what muscles held them together. He loved the experience and went to work at the Healthy Butcher (www.thehealthybutcher.com) in Toronto. And fell in love with a woman from Vancouver.

Sebastian & Co. opened two and a half years ago. The shop, nestled between two restaurants, is black and white. Even Sebastian and his staff of two wear black and white striped aprons over black shirts and black pants.

Custom-built shelves artfully display gourmet pastas, sauces, Fresh Lime Vinegar, Spicy Tokyo Rub, Sinful Coconut Sauce...but it’s the case displaying his masterpieces that get my attention. Steaks, roasts, racks, hand-made sausages and hamburger patties, flattened chicken, bresola, chorizo, Prosciutto.

Sebastian specializes in dry-aged beef. I glimpse the process through a window into the cooler. After 42 days, the meat shrinks as the moisture evaporates, the flavours concentrate, and the enzymes break down the tissues tenderizing the cut which appears purplish black on the surface. Customers come from as far away as Singapore for his dry-aged porterhouse steaks.

Most butchers, says Sebastian, receive their animals cut up, so they can focus on other things.

“I have respect for the animals and concern for sustainability, so I bring in the whole animal,” he says, spreading his arms out wide. “And then I have to be creative because I’ve paid a premium to get it.”

He had returned to Chile and visited butcher shops to learn their techniques, their exotic cuts, which are much different than in North America. There are unfamiliar cuts of meat—for example, vacio (which has no English equivalent) – that are delicious if prepared the right way, so part of Sebastian’s job is to educate his customers. He begins by greeting his customers by name.

He doesn’t do it all alone. His wife, Jessica Gibson, handles the business end of things, and because she travels for her “day job”, she sources products from Europe and lines the shelves of Sebastian’s.

Zack Campbell (like the soup, he says), 26, trained as a chef and when he heard about Sebastian’s way with meat, he wanted to learn the skills. Sebastian agreed to show him.

Monika Nair is a young chef as well. She may be only 5 foot 2 inches and 120 lbs, but she can wield a hacksaw and butcher a side of beef or a whole pig and love every minute of it. They all love food. They talk food all day. And never tire of it. It’s a passion and a combined effort for them all.

“Small quantity, high quality, regular customers,” said Sebastian.

Yes, he has a website. “People say, ‘Why does a butcher need a website?’ and I say, ‘Because it’s what we do, not what we sell.’”

In my bag, chorizo sausage, ribeye steak, bresola (thin-sliced outside round that sat for a week in salt, red wine, oranges, lemons, and rosemary from Sebastian’s garden, and marries well with arugula, olive oil, and shaved parmesan), bacon, duck confit, duck Prosciutto, duck and pork terrine with Cognac and cranberries, marinated flank steak, pastrami, corned beef, ham, (and spiced Sicilian olives from his neighbour Dundarave Olive Company which were the only things not house made by Sebastian).

On the way home, I don’t count the bridges; I also don’t count the number of beef jerky I devour.

Sebastian & Co Fine Organic Meats: 2425 Marine Drive, West Vancouver; 604-925-1636; www.sebastianandco.ca

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